


Embers

by DiverseMediums



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2018-11-29 02:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11431242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiverseMediums/pseuds/DiverseMediums
Summary: As I was lighting a fire over the weekend this fic popped into my head and I just couldn’t shake it. So, here it is! If you all like it, I have more in the wings. Let me know what you think!Thanks to takemeawaytocamelot for the beta!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As I was lighting a fire over the weekend this fic popped into my head and I just couldn’t shake it. So, here it is! If you all like it, I have more in the wings. Let me know what you think!
> 
> Thanks to takemeawaytocamelot for the beta!

“Adso!” Claire cried, barely getting the word out before choking on a cough. 

The air was so thick with smoke she could barely see. Alarms were sounding off around her. She could feel the heat of the fire lurking behind the walls. Sweat dripped down her face and stung her eyes as she crept from room to room. 

“Adso! Damn you, cat! Adso!” 

He’d been sleeping on the bed when she’d fallen into it this morning, fresh from an overnight shift at the hospital. The fire alarms had jolted Claire awake, bursting through the music playing in her earbuds like a hot knife through butter. Her cat was nowhere to be found. 

“Fuck!” she screamed hoarsely, slamming her fist into the wall. 

Claire yelped, pulling her hand away from the searing hot surface, hearing the roar of flames coming from her neighbor’s apartment. There was no help for it, she needed to get out. Choking back a sob, she tucked her face into the collar of her shirt, feeling her way to the front door of her apartment. 

Eyes streaming from the heat and smoke, Claire stumbled into the hallway, leaving the door open in case Adso decided his hide was worth saving and ran for it. Moving as fast as she could at a crouch, she almost reached the closest stairwell when she heard the crack of burning wood and jumped back in time to see the ceiling cave in a blaze of flame and ash. Coughing so hard she almost wretched, Claire turned and ran the other way.

“Adso!” she cried, seeing his gray, ghostlike shape dart from her open door and down the hallway toward safety, bristled tail held high in self righteous fury. 

Claire felt like she was underwater. Breathing was getting harder with each pace, her body moving in slow motion as the world was spinning. She stumbled, got up, fell again. She vaguely wondered if she should be panicking when hands suddenly grasped her and tugged her to her feet. 

_When did I fall on the floor_? she thought muzzily, between racking coughs and gasps. 

“Come on, lass. Hold on to me. Quickly!” an urgent voice said in her ear as its owner started moving toward the stairwell. 

He was tall. So much so, he had to stoop to wrap her arm around his neck and tuck his own around her waist to help her keep up with his long strides. Claire could feel her body shutting down; the heat radiated around them, pulsing waves that took away what breath she had left. She gripped his t-shirt, clinging to what senses she could still control. 

“No’ much farther,” the stranger panted, kicking the stairwell door open and towing her down with him. 

Another loud crack. 

“Look out!” Claire cried, pulling him forcefully away from the falling debris. 

Thrown off balance, he crushed her against the wall as they both fell into it. Claire felt the back of her head slam into the cement block and her knees gave out completely. The world was a spinning, choking mass of stars and roaring noise. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. All she could hear was the crackle of Death coming closer, bathed in red and blue light as it claimed its dues.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you all for the lovely response to this story. I have more planned, don’t you worry. Also, subsequent chapters will be much longer. I know, how dare I? :P

Sirens. 

That was the first noise to register. 

The screaming was the second. 

And pain. So much pain. 

“-need another mask here!”

The flames were still reaching, refusing to die. 

“-nearest A&E-”

Billowing, choking smoke, warped in the flashing lights. 

“-unresponsive-”

A hand clutched in his. 

“Let go!” a voice said urgently.

Detached realization. The screams were his. 

“-Lieutenant Fraser, company 45-”

He tried to respond, but could only writhe against whomever was holding him down. The smell of burning filled his senses. 

_The woman, where_ …

The hand that held his own twitched. 

Jamie’s eyes flew open. Lights and sounds swirled around him; nothing made sense. Until…

He screamed again as the steaming blanket was removed from his flesh. He was falling, didn’t know which way was up or down. Then, pressure as the hand in his squeezed tightly. 

He blinked, turning his head. Those eyes. He knew those eyes. She was there, the woman he’d found, lying on her back beside him as medics worked over her. Above her oxygen mask, her golden eyes met his, glassy eyed and frightened. Determined. 

_Stay with me_ , they said. _Fight. Breathe._

Clenching his jaw, he held her gaze for as long as he could, anchoring himself. Then, someone moved him and the world tilted sideways. 

He knew no more.


	3. Chapter 3

_Beep… beep…_

Claire could hear breathing echoing loudly inside her head. Labored, but there, along with the pulse of a quick but steady heartbeat. She followed the blood from her heart through her veins, vaguely surprised at the feeling of occupation as she made her way through the familiar inner workings of her body. 

She could feel the slight sting of the IV inserted into her forearm, the trickle of foreign fluid making its way into her veins. The mask, a cold presence over her nose and mouth, forcing needed oxygen into her lungs. Claire stopped there, sensing damage, but nothing fatal. Her eyes rolled under their lids, irritated. Grogginess kept her from opening them.  

_Shock?_

The word kept her moving, trying to find the source. 

_There. Just there._

A large patch of red from her left knee almost to her hip. She might have made a noise, but wasn’t sure. The patch glowed in her mind’s eye as bodily sensation became more immediate. And memory. 

_Smoke. Fire. Burning._

The sound of breathing faltered as Claire tried to move, resulting in a wave of nausea that had her gagging. 

“Easy, LJ,” she heard, feeling gentle hands turn her slightly as she retched. 

_What was his name?_

The mask was removed, the sterile oxygen giving way to the familiar scents of the emergency room. 

“Joe,” Claire said, voice cracked as her vocal chords objected to being used. She swallowed and closed her eyes, trying to make the room stop spinning. 

“Open your eyes Lady Jane,” Joe Abernathy said, using his best bedside mannered voice. 

“No…” she wheezed, giving him a close-eyed half smile that she hoped would lessen his worries. 

“Well, your stubbornness hasn’t been affected, Dr. Randall. You must be doing alright, then,” he rejoined, dexterously putting the cannula in place of the mask. “There. We’ll try this, since you pawed off the other one. Don’t think I won’t put the mask back on you if those levels drop, LJ.”

Claire opened one eye and glowered at him. Joe, her closest friend since beginning medical school. The person who knew her better than anyone, including how to make her laugh and push her buttons. He was thinking, she saw, trying to find a way to say something. By the scent and feeling coming from her thigh, Claire knew, and saved Joe the trouble of having to deliver the news.

“How bad is it?” she asked hoarsely. 

Joe glanced at her then sniffed out a humorless laugh, acknowledging her astuteness of his mood. He sighed, picking up her chart from the table and, pulling the chair closer, flipping through the pages. 

“Technically, I’m not supposed to be telling you these things because I’m not attending you but-”

“Technically, I don’t give a shit..” Claire said, earning a genuine laugh from her friend and colleague. 

“Alright. Well, the ambulance that brought you in came from an apartment fire. Yours?”

“Yes.”

Joe paused. 

“Adso?”

Claire smiled genuinely at that. 

“He’s fine. A bit singed, perhaps, but I know he got out. I saw him…”

Claire stopped, her mind trying to put together the puzzle pieces of frantic memory that seemed to be jumbled inside her head. 

“Joe…”

“What’s up, LJ?” he asked kindly, watching her face. “Are you feeling any pain?”

“No..” That was a lie. “I mean, yes, a little but… Joe there was a man. He…”

Claire closed her eyes again, mentally reaching out to grasp the erstwhile images. The memory glowed around her, sparking off of the copper hair of the man helping her down the stairs. His eyes were blue- determined, reassuring - the one time he’d risked a glance at her. Pained the next time as she held onto his hand for dear life, willing him to stay lucid. 

“He saved my life,” she said, opening her eyes again to look at Joe. “Is he alright?”

“You know I can’t tell you about another patient’s status, LJ,” Joe replied, glancing at the door before scooting his chair closer on the pretense of checking her pulse. “So, I _won’t_ say that he’s alive. I also won’t say that things aren’t looking good. Hypothetically, if someone were to have injuries like that, it’s a long road to recovery.”

They both ignored the underlying _if he survives_. Claire let out a shaky breath. 

“Thank you. Are you going to tell me about my leg now?”

“I’d tell you to rest a bit first but I know there isn’t any point. Alright..” 

He stood and raised the head of the bed so she could see. Claire looked down, mostly succeeding in looking at her injuries with a clinician’s eye. The limb was very swollen, a common side effect of burns. She flexed her fingers, feeling stiffness of the joints. They’d managed an IV; that was good. Pulse and oxygen remained steady. Pain tolerable, at present. 

“Superficial burns on the lower half of the body. Seems like the fella that got you out of the building took the brunt of things.”

Claire nodded, ignoring the headache behind her eyes. If she closed her eyes again she’d see him, outlined in the flames that fell down from the landing above. 

“I pulled him away from the falling debris… that’s the last thing I remember.”

Joe looked at her, assessing. 

“CT scan was ordered,” he said, giving her a look that dared her to argue, then turned back to his notes. “Fluids, antibiotics, dressings… all the usual precautions. The worst of it is on your upper left leg.” He met her eyes. “Potential third degree burns.”

Claire lightly touched the bandage that covered her thigh. 

“Skin graft?” she asked. 

“I dunno, LJ. They’ll have to clean the wound up first.”

“What’s your opinion?” 

Joe sighed, looking strained. 

“Most likely.”

Claire nodded, unsurprised. 

“Who has my case?”

“Lecky,” Joe replied, looking at her with amused sympathy. 

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ.”

“Well, he might be an arrogant son of a bitch but, you have to admit, he’s the best the burn unit has to offer.”

“Oh, lucky for me..” Claire said dryly. “Joe?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll check on him,” he said, reaching out to squeeze her hand before standing up. “Try not to throw anything at Lecky, okay?”

“No promises,” she replied.

Joe laughed, nodding to her.

“I’m glad you’re alright, LJ. Take it easy, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Claire sighed, shifting a little in the bed to try to get comfortable. Unfortunately, any movement seemed to make her leg pulse. Fortunately, that was also good- nerve damage less likely. Claire only hoped her red headed savior could be so fortunate.


End file.
